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Saturday, February 12, 2011

Location, Location!
The Movie Locations site attempts to document all the locations that appear in movies. The current list includes some classics like North By Northwest as well as more recent titles like The King's Speech. Locations are indexed by Movie, Actor/Director and Location.MovieLocations: Movie: NorthByNorthwest

Tax Incentives
If you're looking to make a movie, you've probably already checked in to tax breaks, but watch out; many are under threat:

New Mexico is just one of a number of states reviewing their incentive programs. There, the state's newly elected Gov. Susana Martinez has said she wants to cut that state’s popular tax credit from 25 percent to 15 percent.

Indie Funding
Crowdfunding seems to be getting a lot of attention right now; KickStarter has got a lot of coverage, but there are other sites like IndieGoGo doing the same thing.

Daniel Skubal is the lead editor at Zacuto (he was editor for the company's Emmy winning “The Great Camera Shootout 2010”) and is working on a movie "Your Milkman." He's currently raised $1,700 of the $9,000 goal, though he says he's going to make the movie no matter how much they raise.

iTunes #1 is online movies in 2011
Apple remained #1 in 2011 for electronic sell through and internet video on demand, though both Microsoft and Sony gained ground and Walmart is going to make a hard charge.

“The future of the online movie business may come down to competitive battle between Apple and Wal-Mart,” Amel [research director, digital media, for IHS] said. “Although Wal-Mart is not on the charts yet, the company soon will become a major player if its current momentum continues. The company already represents a critical source of revenue for the major Hollywood studios because of its massive sales of Blu-ray and DVD movies—and now is expanding this business into the online realm.”

Canon 5D Mark II for FilmmakingMr. Oizo (Quentin Dupieux), music producer and film director, and director of the upcoming movie "Rubber" talks about using the Canon 5D Mark II in an audio interview (with clips from the movie)

"I try a few HD cameras, super-expensive HD, and they're good, they're precise, but they don't have the magic."

Another great panel from last years Public Television Quality Group's Boston Quality Workshop was on Creating Documentaries. This panel featured Producer Michael Kirk, Cinematographer Ben McCoy, and Editor Chad Ervin talking about their experiences producing content for PBS's Frontline.

Michael Kirk has been with Frontline since it's inception, and has produced over 55 episodes for the program. Cinematographer Ben McCoy has been working with Michael for almost as long, and is an expert on shooting what Kirk described as "guilty buildings." Editor Chad Ervin joined the group just a few years ago, stepping in to, as Kirk described it, "replace the previous drummer."

Ben McCoy adjusting lighting for an interview

The great thing about this presentation was that there was really three parts to it:

Lighting
Ben did a live lighting demo, showing how they like to light their subjects using minimal lights; he started with the standard three-point lighting setup, and reduced it down to two lights, adding reflectors and gauze to make the lighting soft. They also like to have the background out of focus, so they set the camera a good distance back from the subject, and then zoom in on the person.

Editing
When there are pieces of narration explaining background events, they often build up a visual sequence to illustrate or counter-point the narration. Chad demonstrated a couple of different examples of building up a sequence, starting with the narrative (i.e. how the financial markets collapsed), finding a variety of clips to use (in this case, starting with an aerial view of New York and cutting to the stock exchange floor), then layering in the narration, music, and multiple layers of sound effects (sirens and rattle snakes are particularly effective for creating tension!) In one sequence there were fifteen different layers of sounds.

Michael Kirk

Just as interesting was Kirk's description of the process of producing an episode. The following are some quotes:

We [produce the shows] with all the resources available to us, considering the following facts: Frontline usually assigns us films in Washington and New York, two of the most hideous places in the world to work; you’ve seen one building you’ve seen them all, except when Ben gets done with them.
They are also films about people who don’t want to talk to us in any way. Dick Cheney never answers my phone calls.

[on shooting interviews] We try to get everybody to look the same; the people we like, the people we don’t like. We like them to be really warm, we like them to be friendly looking, we like the background to not be a background, and we like to be able to Avid push-in at critical moments, so we’re shooting at a high enough light level that everything doesn’t deteriorate.

I push on every interview inside the film; we’re [doing] a 20% Avid zoom on everybody so that the film will feel inexorable. You don’t know it, but every shot has a little bit of a push on it. It drives the people in post who have to build our shows crazy because the renders are amazing on an hour or a two hour film.

I don’t like cuts and I don’t like dissolves. In our editing room we operate under the adage, if you can’t solve it, dissolve it. So we don’t dissolve because we think we can solve it one way or the other.

We cut fairly fast for hour long and two hour long documentaries. We cut for about eight weeks. A week or two of it is ingesting, there’s two weeks afterwards which is post, but we’re trying to get the rough cut in about six weeks and fine cut a week later.

I’m always stunned that more television documentary makers don’t use black and white photos. I understand that they’re expensive, but with what you can do in After Effects and the way you can move inside the Avid, and the colors you can create and the intimacy and especially if you’re doing a narrated film, my god, the idea that you’re not watching a piece of B-roll or watching a guy walk down a hall, but you’re seeing the Presdient angry or lively, and you re hearing about him as you’re pushing into his eyes and face. We did it for the first time in 2000 in a film we did for ABC news called The Clinton Years, and they had all the photographs for free from Clinton’s photographer, and I sat there and I said, “all the rest of my life I’m going to use this as a tool.”

I always tell people we interview; "I'm here to make a commercial about you and your position. We light you the best you've ever been lit," but I also say, "what you need to know is that I'm also going to do that for your opponent. I'm here to make a commercial for your ideas and their ideas and put them in conflict with each other so that the audience can decide. And the thing you need to know," and I say this to everybody, "your opponent on this issue was very good yesterday. It's important that you're as good."
The other thing that I tell them is that "I promise you that you may not like what we do, but I'll make this promise to you," I did it with Jack Kevorkian, I've done it with lots of people, I've said, "I'll come to your house, and watch the film the night that it airs, and if you don't like it, you can punch me in the nose," and he's the only one that every really wanted to.

There will always be the type of home cinema buff who wants the ultimate viewing experience and active shutter system is the only technlogy that can offer that at the moment. It's right to have the choice available so that they can step into 3D at a level that suits their pocket. But, to have the best picture quality does require the active glasses which have a lot of technology in them. There's currently no other option for getting full HD to each eye

Panasonic HDC-SD90 and WW-CLT1 3D review
The T3 blog has a short review of the HDC-SD90, and mentions using it with the WW-CLT1 3D lens, a real budget solution:

Connecting the 3D lens to the camcorder does take a bit of getting used to. You have to add a lens ring (which comes with the lens), then bolt the 3D lens on to this. The lens is actually a tad heavier than the camcorder it's connected to so, which makes the whole thing top heavy, but you get used to this once you have shot some footage with the device.

Wim Wenders 3D Art Film
Wim Wenders has made a 3D documentary about the German choreographer Pina Bausch. He said that for many years he struggled for a way to convey the space, of dance until he saw the digital concert film U2 3D in 2006. Even then, the "early" 3D had problems;

In 2006, the best 3D cameras still had difficulty capturing rapid motion. There was a shuttering effect: A dancer running across the stage would suddenly seem to have three legs or four arms.

But after four years, the technology had advanced to the point where it would work.

"3D really thrives on space -- the 3D camera loves infinity, the horizon," Wenders says. "It's a shame the 3D most people have seen wasn't shot in the real world but in the studios because it's in the real world where 3D really comes into its own."

Friday, February 11, 2011

Canon has posted the manual for the upcoming XA10. The camera itself is not expected to be available until March.

The XA10 shares much in common with the high-end consumer camera, the VIXIA HF G10 [$1,499.00] which was announced at the same time at the XA10. The most notable difference between the two is that the XA10 comes with a detachable handle that includes XLR inputs.

Dashwood Cinema Solutions, a developer of 3D software solutions, will be unveiling three new Mac-based stereoscopic 3D products at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention, held in Las Vegas, NV from April 11-14.

Stereo3D CAT – Fast and Flawless Camera Alignment & Analysis
An on-location software calibration and analysis system that simplifies the calibration of left and right eye cameras. Equipped with a unique eyestrain warning system, Stereo3D CAT scans 3D footage and calculates the correct camera alignment points. Feedback guides illustrate the depth of the 3D shot and provide directors and cinematographers with a visual aide for making convergence adjustments and proper interaxial separation.
Feature Highlights:

Supports all 3D single or dual input and output modes, flip/flop left and/or right eye orientation, automatic or manual (with the new Dashwood 3D chart) disparity correction, and HIT convergence adjustment with automatic scaling

Eyestrain warning system with histogram for comparison of left/right eyes

The Dashwood 3D Chart - stereoscopic chart
Developed in conjunction with DSC Labs, the Dashwood 3D Chart is a stereoscopic chart that automates the display of accurate 3D rig calibration. When integrated with Stereo3D CAT or Stereo3D Toolbox v3, the chart's unique visual code trackers work alongside the applications to automatically track to 1/1,000 of a pixel for ideal stereo alignment. The chart also offers an interface for live feedback to assist in automating camera alignment, sync testing and slating, and color and gamma calibration. For those aligning manually, the Dashwood 3D Chart offers a brand new manual pattern alignment that features DSC Labs' patented FiddleHead spirals for corner-to-corner focus.

Stereo3D Toolbox v2.0

Stereo3D Toolbox™ v3.0 – Flagship 3D Mastering
Utilized by post-production houses around the world for professional stereoscopic 3D mastering on the Mac platform, Stereo3D Toolbox outputs media to a wide range of stereoscopic 3D formats and manages the demuxing of side by side, interlace and over/under formatting. Stereo3D Toolbox's stereoscopic mastering capabilities include sub-pixel precision, pixel-precise straight or angled floating windows, high-contrast "ghost toasting," preview tools, fine control of image exposure and color balance, 2D+Z-Depth to stereoscopic conversion, and more. Additional features of Stereo3D Toolbox v3.0 will be revealed just in time for NAB.

Dashwood Stereo3D Utilities
These newly developed tools support ingest of 3D material from new cameras on the market and output of stereoscopic files to monitors and recording devices.

Panasonic AG-AF100 / AG-AF101
Peter Lundström at the editman blog has published his thoughts on using the AG-AF101, and compares it to the images you can get shooting with Canon DSLRs. He notes that he's having problems with getting the color right:

You must be extremely careful when selecting colour temperature. Having white anything other than spot on and exposure higher than 85% will make yellow/orange to clip. It's one ugly clipping so you must avoid it no matter what. Blue, red and green are not as sensitive but watch out for yellow and orange. Under daylight balanced bulbs clipping is not bad. It clips but really nothing ugly about it. It's under tungsten one can run into problems.

Playing with the Phantom Flex
Tom Guilmette went to Las Vegas to shoot a Ping Pong tournament, and had with him a Phantom High Speed Digital Cinema. He put together some amazing footage shot at - in some cases - 2,564 frames per second. It's a very expensive camera, but you can rent it!

The most surprising thing about the new Flex camera is its light sensitivity and native noiseless 1000 ISO. Dave and I were able to record 600 FPS under Rule office fluorescent ceiling lights! The picture was not perfectly exposed, but we were making flicker-free images at that insane frame rate. If you are not familiar with high speed, a ton of light is needed and flicker is almost always a problem. But this camera is the most sensitive yet. The new Flex is “simply magic”.

Kessler Slider ReviewSebastian Wiegärtner reviews the Kessler Crane Pocket Dolly 2.0 and prefers it over the Glidetrack HD and Igus sliders. He does note that it's expensive, but seems to think it's worth it.
On a side note, it's interesting that he personally doesn't think a 3 foot long track is really necessary for a slider, and actually causes more problems; it's difficult to support on one tripod.

The Kessler Pocket Dolly 2.0 has a ball bearing wheel design and gives it a great fluid feel. It has also a custom CNC machined firm rail to reduce or eliminate flex. If you would compare this dolly with an IGUS components slider you would feel the difference! Today I’m using the Pocket Dolly for nearly every shoot.

DitoGear Slider
And if you're interested in a motion-control slider, you might want to check out the DitoGear DryEyekit. EOSHD has an interview with Patryk Kizny of DitoGear, to reveal the origins of DitoGear and what's in store in terms of future products.EOSHD: EOSHD DitoGear Interview - the story behind the sliders

Panasonic GH2 Review
An extensive review of the Panasonic GH2 - with video - is posted at CameraLabs. The GH2 has gotten a lot of interest for it's video capabilities; one thing it seems to do better than Canon's DSLRs is handle very fine details in video. Even better; the video's are shot in Queenstown, New Zealand!

...but the icing on the cake for pros is the ability to output a clean 1080i output over HDMI while recording video; this is very useful when connecting and composing with an external monitor. Most DSLRs and hybrid cameras may output 1080i over HDMI in Live View, but scatter it with icons and downgrade the feed to standard definition as soon as you start recording. Not so with the GH2 which can drive external monitors with a nice, clean 1080i image, while recording, and even maintain a duplicate image on the camera's own screen if desired; you could even have icons and level meters on the latter while keeping the HDMI output clean.

Okii USB Follow Focus Controller Demo
The Okii USB Follow Focus Controller is a remote control that works with Canon DSLRs and can be used to control focus (on auto-focus lenses.) The 5D Mark II Team website has been in contact with the developed of this device, and have posted a sample video showing the unit in operation.Vimeo: Video Test 4 - Okii USB Follow Focus Controller5DMarkII Team: USB Follow Focus Controller PRE-ORDERS

In addition to the User Manual (previously mentioned) there is also a Supplemental User Manual for the Sony PMW-F3K (camera plus three prime lenses) & PMW-F3L (camera only). Both can be found here (click the Resources Tab):Sony: Product PMWF3L

BOSFCPUG + BOSDSLR Mixer Feb 17th
This event will be held at the Apple Store, Boylston St, Boston and will feature colorist Alexis Van Hurkman who will present an overview of DaVinci Resolve on Mac OS X.NotesOnVideo:BOSFCPUG + BOSDSLR Mixer; Feb 17th

Sony CineAlta Production Group, meeting March 1st New York City
The CineAlta Production Group meetings are organized and hosted by Sony's CineAlta Production Team, and are free and open to the public. They request that you RSVP.

Large Sensor Cameras. What is in it for you? How do they compare to HDSLRs?Juan Martinez, Senior Product Manager at Sony Electronics is currently working on the NXCAM Super 35mm camcorder and will describe the core technology of Large Sensor technology for motion picture acquisition and how it benefits you, and how this compares to HDSLR’s.

Ray Bribiesca B and his experiences shooting around the world
Emmy and Peabody Award winner Raymond A. Bribiesca has been in the News business for 46 years, recently retiring from 60 Minutes and CBS News after 30 years. He’s worked with every format, from Film to Video Tape to File Based. Ray will share his experience in bringing back outstanding footage from the field under a wide variety of conditions. He’ll share his approach and methods in solving challenging shooting situations in the field. Ray will also bring clips to highlight these topics.

Createasphere/EXPLORE Entertainment Technology Exposition
March 3, 2011 | Universal Hilton | Universal Sity CA
The March Entertainment Technology Exposition (formerly known as HD EXPO) is for the production and content creation community and brings together exhibitors, sponsors, attendees and industry supporters.

DIY Day in New York, Mar 5, 2011
DIY DAYS is a roving conference for those who create. Past stops have included Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and Philadelphia. FREE to participants and organized by volunteers - DIY DAYS is about the accessibility of ideas, resources and networking that can enable storytellers to fund, create, distribute and sustain.DIY DAYS: WebsiteDIY DAYS: Register at EventBrite

EditShare Events
EditShare - developers of the Lightworks NLE - have a page listing events they will be at all around the globe this year.EditShare: Upcoming Events

The short version of this story is that I shot with four GoPros, extracted still images from video, stitched the stills together into panoramas then recombined them back into video.
For the much more detailed and nerdy answer read on….

Shooting 3D Underwater
Want to shoot 3D underwater? Element Technica, manufacturer of 3D rigs says that its Technica 3D Neutron rig, mounted with Silicon Imaging SI-2K cameras, can now be enclosed in apurpose-built Neutron BORG 3D underwater housing system from HydroFlex. You can see a picture of it in the news report below...Or you could buy four waterproof GoPros and make a 360 degree movie instead!StudioDaily: Underwater 3D a Reality with Element Technica Neutron and BORG Underwater Housing

Steadicam Merlin ReviewEl Skid explains why he doesn't like using the Steadicam Merlin with a DSLR, and instead prefers the cheaper Glidecam:

Now, I have had some good results with the Merlin, but I finally had to concede last night that it’s simply not very good for DSLRs and I would advise against buying one for that purpose. I will add that I tried a Canon XHA1 (which features a locking pin to keep the camera set on the stage) and it worked beautifully, really well. For DSLR stabiliser uses I have to say the Glidecam is the one to get.

Top Ten Rental Cameras in the UKTelevisual polled 26 hire companies for their five most used cameras and the percentage of usage of each. This information was then assembled to create a Top Ten list of cameras. There were more than 20 different cameras vying for a place in the top 10.

Eight of the cameras in the top ten are Sony's (and interestingly the number one camera - the tape-based Sony HDW-790P - is actually discontinued!) Two lower-priced file-based cameras, the Sony PMW-EX3 and Sony PMW-EX1R came in at #2 and #8 respectively. The RED One came in at #6 (down from #3 last year) and the Canon 5D came in at #9.

Companies were also asked what they were planning to invest in this year, and from those results there's some expectation that the Arri Alexa, Canon XF-305, Sony PMW-F3 and Panasonic AG-AF101 could make a big impact on next year's numbers.Televisual: The Top Ten Rental Camera

mocha AE v2.5 upgrade for $99
For the month of February you can upgrade to mocha AE v2.5 for only $99. mocha AE is a stand alone tracking and roto tool now updated to support both After Effects and Final Cut users. To qualify for upgrade pricing, customer must own a valid license of any Imagineer product.ImagineerSystems: mocha AE upgrade only $99

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

The announcement on Monday of the new Canon T3i was greeted with disinterest bordering on distain by the DSLR video shooting community. What was new in this update to distinguish it from the T2i, which was announced almost exactly a year ago on February 8, 2010? Was this just a firmware upgrade in the guise of a new camera as one poster suggested?

From the video shooter's perspective, the T3i doesn't look like much of an improvement over the T2i. It seems to have the same chip and image processor as the T2i, so while they've tweaked the auto modes, and added creative filters, we shouldn't expect any real image difference.

One area where all Canon DSLRs suffer is in moire when capturing fine patterns. This happens because of the sampling the processor does when quickly scaling the image from the large 18 MP chip down to 1920 x 1080. For this reason, one new feature - a digital zoom - looked promising; perhaps the camera doesn't have to do as much data manipulation to produce the final image, which may remove or reduce the moire.

But before we obsess too much about that, lets not forget that many people think the video quality of the Canon DSLRs right now is perfectly acceptable. People are shooting TV shows with them! And adding a digital zoom - providing it doesn't actually diminish the quality - isn't a bad thing.

Perhaps best of all, the T3i adds the tilt/swivel screen that first appeared on the 60D. That, for me, makes the T3i update worthwhile. I can't also help but think that this will cannibalize some 60D sales - that tilt screen is especially useful for those shooting video, and was a reason for picking the 60D over the T2i - but that's Canon's problem, not mine!

In truth, perhaps the reason it was panned is because many are really waiting for a "5D Mark III," and hoping it improves image quality and does a few other things like full HD out the HDMI port. But the T3i isn't a terrible beast; for the swivel screen alone I'd recommend it over the T2i if you were thinking about buying one.

The T3 / 1100D
At the same time as they announced the T3i, Canon also updated the Rebel XS / 1000D with the T3 / 1100D. This update adds several features over the XS, but the most notable is HD 720p video recording. There's no tilting LCD as on the T3i, but you'll save $200.

I'd spend the money.

For video use, the tilt screen alone would be worth it. And though 720p is not bad for many applications - and most of my projects get posted at 720p anyway - having a higher resolution 1080p image gives you the opportunity to zoom in a little on the final clip while editing. So I'd get the T3i.

Panasonic AG-AF100 Good, Bad & UglyArt Adams at ProVideoCoaltion writes about his experiences with the AG-AF100 on a recent shoot. In generally he likes it - particularly the video camera features not found in DSLRs - though has some problems with how it handles clipped highlights, color and noise.

The AF-100 has a lot of potential, and I’d definitely go with it when the alternative is an HDSLR. Its layout and controls are familiar and it’s designed to do what it does, so it’s much faster and easier to program, judge focus and expose than an HDSLR. It also doesn’t moire like an HDSLR will.

On the negative side, though, it’s still basically an HVX-200 with a larger sensor. It clips roughly the same way, which is not a good look in a large sensor camera, and it’s noisy too. The odd thing about the noise, though, is that it’s consistent throughout the exposure range: there’s no discernible change in noise between EI 200 and EI 800, and the exposure latitude doesn’t seem to be affected either.

Free Image Animation Filter for Final Cut and After EffectsIndustrial Revolution has released a free iTunes-style Slideshow Generator plug-in for Final Cut Studio and After Effects.

Features: Load, reorder and rename the files using the built in file browser. Select the depth of the stack, the number, the angle and even the depth of field of the display. Add round corners, soft edges and even a travelling gloss to highlight edges. Display with square or round corners, make them soft or use your own mask. Use the full XYZ camera movement & rotation to fly around the stack whilst animating. Choose the auto-animation feature or manual keyframe control to jump forward or backwards to any image in the stack.IndistrialRevolution: CoverFlux2

Flash Player 10.2
Adobe has released Flash Player 10.2. This official release adds Stage Video support:

Stage Video lets websites take advantage of full hardware acceleration of the entire video pipeline. This builds on the H.264 hardware accelerated decoding in Flash Player 10.1. Stage Video hardware acceleration means that Flash Player can play even higher quality video while using dramatically less processing power, giving users a better experience, greater performance, and longer battery life. In our testing across supported systems, we've found it's up to 34 times more efficient.

Put another way, Flash Player using Stage Video can effortlessly play beautiful 1080p HD video with just 1-15% CPU usage on a common Mac or Windows computer* – working across platforms and browsers, it will enable the best video experience for the most people. Websites and content providers will need to update their video players before users experience Stage Video playback with Flash Player 10.2 on their sites.

Creating HDR Time-lapse VideoMike Curtis at MacWorld takes you through creating HDR time-lapse video using a still camera. While there's some camera setup and operation tips, all the software covered is Macintosh specific.MacWorld: Create HDR time-lapse video with a digital camera

Interview with Wally PfisterInception cinematographer Wally Pfister talked to DP/30 about his career, how he got his start in movies, shooting IMAX and large formats, being a film holdout, the film making process, and the surprising lack of CG pieces in Inception.YouTube: DP/30: Inception, cinematographer Wally Pfister

Magic Bullet and "The Fighter"Red Giant Software talks to Josh Comen (visual effects producer) and Tim Carras (visual effects supervisor) at Comen VFX about how they used Magic Bullet Frames to de-interlace 60i footage to 24p for the movie The Fighter.RedGiant: Magic Bullet and “The Fighter”

Scriptwriting

Scriptwriting TipsElliot Grove founded Raindance Film Festival in 1993, the British Independent Film Awards in 1998, and Raindance.TV in 2007. He provides 10 tips for filmmakers:

5. Being seduced by dialogue
No one can fix a script by rewriting dialogue. Dialogue is the glitter on the surface of a story. Delve deep into the story and assess the storyline weaknesses and focus on reforming these essential elements before moving on to a dialogue rewrite.

More Scriptwriting TipsJoss Whedon, creator/writer/director of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the TV series Firefly, and who worked as a script doctor on movies including Speed and Toy Story, also has a list of tips. Danny Stack reprints them in his blog:

1. FINISH IT
Actually finishing it is what I’m gonna put in as step one. You may laugh at this, but it’s true. I have so many friends who have written two-thirds of a screenplay, and then re-written it for about three years.

Watching Movies on your Computer
I guess it's been around for a while, but I only just encountered Crackle, a website that let's you watch movies and television programs on your computer...for free. Movies include Dr. Strangelove, Fail Safe, Philadelphia and Ghostbusters II. Limited selection, resolution - for the movie I tried - was only 480p and 360p, and there are ads inserted in the movie, but it's free!Crackle.com

Watching Movies on your iPhoneDavid Lynch doesn't think you should be watching movies on your iPhone because you don't get the entire experience. But he says it a little more colorfully.YouTube: David Lynch on iPhone [Rated R for language]

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Zacuto EVF InformationZacuto continues to update information about their upcoming EVF (Electronic Viewfinder.) They've now added a "Z-FinderEVF Pro" model to the existing three configurations they had previously announced. The Z-FinderEVF Pro combines the EVF Flip-Up model already announced, with a Z-Finder.

This makes the product line a little more understandable: The EVF is available as two different models, one with a flip-up frame and the other without, and then you can buy both models with an included Z-Finder.Zacuto: Z-FinderEVF

Sony Bloggie Mac Software Review
Sony just released the Mac Software for their Bloggie cameras last week, and Sony Rumors has a review:

...if you are using your Bloggie to take photos and videos for yourself and are not intending on sharing them with others, then stick to iMovie and iPhoto. However, if you are big on the social and media networks and want to easily share your photos and videos with others, Sony has made a compelling software that is both easy to use for those new to the Bloggie, the Mac, or computers in general while being extremely streamlined and elegant for those of us with a little more computer knowhow.

The next Boston Final Cut Pro User Group & Boston DSLR Meetup Group Mixer will be held on February 17th at the Apple Store, Boston. If you're in the Boston area, these events have proved to be informative, great for networking, and often have great pizza!

Gale Tattersall is DP for the TV series House, and - in case you missed it - last year they shot the entire last episode of the season using Canon DSLRs. Gale is now a big advocate for DSLRs:

So many advantages such as tighter eye lines because you can fit several 5D's into the same space as one or two conventional cameras. Cool options such as using electric lightweight helicopters that can get you stunning aireal shots at a fraction of the price. The ability to get into the tightest corners and spaces, and a million other applications. Not to mention the fact that with these small lightweight cameras our setups and turn-arounds are done at twice or three times the speed as when we use standard 35mm cameras.

Workshops
Gale and HD DSLR Workshops is offering a series of three-day workshops in LA this year using digital cameras. The workshops cost $1,200, (i.e. $400 a day).

February 13, 20, & 27

March 13, 20, & 27

April 10, 17, & 24

At the HD DSLR Workshops we inspire as well as educate. Our students leave with new tools and the vision to use those tools. This is accomplished by instructing techniques and practices that will help the students to navigate real world situations rather than idealized, insulated scenarios. The workshops take place over three consecutive Sundays of each month, allowing for gradual absorption and retention of the curriculum. The weeks between classes give the students time for questioning and testing of the techniques learned.

Interview with Director of Photography: Vangelis KatritzidakisMomentum Blog publishes an interview with Katritzidakis, who was DP for the Greek TV series The Island. The interview focuses on how he achieved the look he wanted using a combination of lighting and camera. They shot on the Sony EX-3 [$8,320], a smaller chip camera; to achieve the shallow depth of field they used a Letus 35 Pro prism.MomentumBlog: Vangelis Katritzidakis Interview

Zip Tie Focus RingsWith follow-focus units, one of the unexpected costs can be the gear rings for the lenses themselves. HalfInchRails have produced a teaser video for Zip Tie Focus Rings which they promise will be 1/4 the typical cost of these things.

Monday, February 07, 2011

DPReview reports that Sony says it will make the "basic specifications" for the E-mount available for free to lens manufacturers and lens mount adaptors this April.

Sony hasn't said what the specs extend to, but this announcement makes me even more optimistic that this means Zeiss will support the E-mount in the future (as I speculated wildly when Zeiss recently talked about future lens mounts during a presentation at Rule.)DPReview: Sony to disclose E-mount specifications

Tiffen just sent out an announcement that the Steadicam Smoothee for the iPhone 4 is shipping, and the one for the iPhone 3Gs will be out shortly. The Smoothee is a low-cost - $180 - Steadicam for small cameras, and I have to admit that I'm curious to see how well it performs.

B & H actually lists both iPhone models in stock, while Amazon says they are temporarily out of stock.

B & H also lists Smoothee for the Flip, as well as different mounts (that let you switch between the iPhone and Flip) but there's no delivery date for those yet.

Another Editing TipI should note that I watched all of Rob's tip movie (above) going "Huh?" and "What?!" and then deciding "this isn't correct, or useful to anyone" before I got to the end and realized it was a joke!
BUT, this tutorial at IncredibleTutorials is actually an article that goes into pre-production planning for editing a Final Cut Pro project. Talk First, Shoot Later; good advice for any editor.IncredibleTutorials: Final Cut Pro Editing Starts Before the Shooting Stops – Tips to First Time

Still fighting the 3D Wars
Walter Murch's (and Roger Ebert's) dismissal of 3D has not gone unanswered, and I have posted a few links to some of the pro-crowd, but here's just one more Frank Capria.FrankCapria.TV: On Murch on 3DNotesOnVideo: 3D News

Which I only included to provide some balance to the report from Bloomberg that glasses-free 3D TV's - which started rolling out from Toshiba late last year - sold less than than half their targeted numbers. And Sony and Samsung report that demand for their 3D screens has also been less than expected. Is the market speaking?Bloomberg: Glasses-Free 3-D TV Sales Miss Expectations in Initial Month, Toshiba Says

On The Ground In Egypt
The LENS blog at the New York Times covers photography, video and visual journalism. The latest post collects together the experiences of several photographers in Egypt during the recent protests. Some very hairy stories:

The moment I started photographing the crowd, they just absolutely turned, to the point that one person grabbed my camera and started yelling at me, saying I can’t take photos. Before you know, we had this entire mob surrounding us.

Impressive HDR Timelapse VideoRafael Asquith has produced an impressive HDR timelapse video. The images are very dramatic, and he's using the War of the Worlds radio show audio for interesting dramatic effect. Nice clouds too.Vimeo: The War of the Worlds (HDR timelapse with 7D & 450D)

Zeiss joins Micro Four-Thirds System Standard
Olympus has announced that Carl Zeiss has joined the MFT System Standard Group, and will be offering lenses with the Micro Four-Thirds mount.Engadget: Carl Zeiss joins the Micro Four Thirds revolution

It had been expected that Canon would make some announcements today, and they did; unfortunately many were hoping for a replacement for the 5D Mark II, instead Canon has announced two new low-priced DSLRs and some new lenses:

Canon T3i / 600D for $800 body only, looks to basically be a minor upgrade to the T2i; for video shooters it notably adds a tilt-swivel LCD.
It doesn't appear to do anything really new or different in the video capture department when compared to the existing T2i or 60D, though we'll probably have to wait for the reviews to confirm this. About the only thing that can be said for it is that it might make people thinking of buying the 60D for video - because of the tilt screen - look at the T3i instead.DPReview: Canon Rebel T3i / EOS 600D announced and previewedNewGadgets.Net: Canon rolls out entry-level DSLRs, Rebel T3 and Rebel T3i

Sunday, February 06, 2011

Case Studies in Film Editing
At the digitalFilms blog, Oliver Peters has collected together the interviews with film editors that he's written for Videography magazine. Movies covered include: Ratatouille, The Bourne Ultimatum, No Country For Old Men and The Dark Night.digitalfilms: Case studies in film editing

Edit to the Beat in Adobe Premiere
In a Creative Cow tutorial, Richard Harrington shows how to edit a group of video clips quickly and sync them to an audio clip by using markers and the automate to sequence command in Premiere Pro.CreativeCow: Edit to the Beat